Heel-protector for boots or shoes



(No Model.)

E. KEMPSHALL.

HEEL PROTECTOR FOR BOOT$ OR SHOES. No. 354,064. Patented Dec. '7, 1886.

llNiTEn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELEAZER KEMPSHALL, OF NElV BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

HEEL-PROTECTOR FOR BOOTS OR SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,064. dated December7, 1886.

Application filed August 21, 1886. Serial "No. 211,555. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, ELEAZER KEMPsHALL, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Britain, in the county of Hartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHeel-Protectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of heelprotectors which are to beinserted in the bootheel, the object being to provide a protectoradapted for insertion in the heel of rubber boots, as hereinafter morefully set forth.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a plan view of the under side of the heel of a rubber boothaving inserted therein a protector embodying my invention. I Fig. 2 isa side elevation, partially in section, of same. Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection on line a, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 illustrates how the protector isplaced in the heel-mold before the heel is pressed into shape. Fig. 5 isan enlarged plan view of the preferred form ofprotector before using.Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 7 is a vertical section inline b b of Fig. 5.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

The mode of protecting heels made of leather by inserting in themmetallic plugs is well known. In that case the plugs or cylindrical orconical pieces of metal are usually forced into holes made in the lowerlift or layer of the heel, which lift or layer is afterward fastenedinto place. By this mode the protectors are readily fixed into place inleather boots; but in rubber boots the same mode is found in-'sufficient. It is desirable in the latter case to secure the regulararrangement of the protector in a heel, while it is considered necessaryto place them in the heel-mold before pressing them into shape. Toinsure, under these conditions, the desired result is one of the objectsof my present invention.

My improved heel-protector comprises a series of wear-resisting plugs,preferably three in number, made of hard cast-iron or other hard metal,the several plugs being connected by a malleable bar in such a way as toconstitute a single device, and the end plugs being furnished withplacingbraces, as hereinafter de- The bar 10 may be shaped to fit thedovetail recess 11, (shown in Fig. 7,) formed intheend of the plugs, 'orit may be round, as at 12 in the same figure. These wear-resisting plugsmay be adjnstably secured to the bar and placed thereon at differentdistances apart, to accommodate the protector to a greater range ofheels. The metallic connections are more shallow in a vertical directionthan the plugs, so that they are covered by the rubber of the heel whenthe plugs are so located as to be visible on the surface of the rubber.

One part of my improvement relates to the construction of thewear-resisting plugs used in the protector, whereby the plugs are adapted to be set securely in the yielding substance of rubber-boot heels.This improvemeutconsists in making the plug in the form of a hollowcone, or other shape tapering toward the lower face of the heel, and inproviding such plug'at or near its base with an arm, 15, which serves adouble purpose-as steadyiug-bar and placing-brace. As will be seen, oneof these arms 15 is provided for each terminal plug of the series.

The hollow plugs, when in place, are filled with a rubber core, 8,integral with the material of the heel, so that a much greaterresistance is obtained against any sidewise displacement than would bewith the plug in a separate piece from the heel.

I do not, however, limit myself to a hollow plug, as my invention ispresent in one of its forms when a series of plugs, either solid orhollow, is used in combination with skeleton connections between theplugs and with placing-braces upon the terminal plugs.

The arms of placing-braces 15 and 13 are formed on the plug at or nearits large end, as clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 7. These arms preventtheprotector from being driven against the side of the heel-mold while theheel is being formed about the protector, and they resist IOC :adjustable thereon.

any force tending to tip the plug out of its vertical position. In thisrespect said arm cooperates with the core in the hollow plug when thehollow plug is employed, and the connect- 5 ing-arms also co-operate indischarging the same function. These terminal placing-braces may be madeupon the plugs themselves, or in the form of my protector, in which theplugs are dovetailed upon the bar, or otherwise made The placingbracesmay constitute continuations of the rod, as shown in Fig. 4.. Whetherthea'rms areon the plug or are upon the arms extending beyond the plug.they are so shaped and located as to be driven outward by the plasticmaterial while under pressure in the mold. In this way theproperlocation of the series of plugs is secured, while the connectingbars and arms. being securely embedded in the rubber in the finished 2oheel, co operate with the integral core within the hollow plugs inholding the heel-protector firmly and permanently.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is.-

1. A wearresisting plug for rubber-boot heels, consisting of a hollowfrustoconical plug having an arm or placing-brace projecting laterallyfrom the base thereof, as set forth.

2. The combination, in a heel-protector, of 0 a series of wear-resistingplugs and a malleable connecting-bar, said plugs havings openings foradjustment on said bar, substantially as described.

3. A heel-protector having a series of wearresisting plugs secured to amalleable bar connecting said plugs, in combination with arms orplacing-braces, one at each end of the protector, all substantially asdescribed.

4.. The combination, in a heel-protector, of a series of hollow plugsunited by a bar extending through them, said plugs being adjustablethereon and the end ones having placingbraces at their sides,substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.

5. A heel-protector consisting of aseries of hollow frusto conical plugsunited bya malleable bar extending through a recessin the end of theplugs the plugs being adjustable on the bar and the end ones providedwith an arm or placing-brace, as and for the purpose set forth.

ELEAZER KEMPSHALIJ.

Witnesses FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, GEO. A. REYNoLDs.

